The verdict is in: quantum computing poses an existential threat to asymmetric cryptography algorithms like RSA and ECC that underpin practically all current Internet security. This comes straight from the National Academy of Science’s Committee on Technical Assessment of the Feasibility and Implications of Quantum Computing. The inevitable follow-up: OK, so how much time do we have before we’re living in a post-quantum world?

The short answer is, nobody knows. That’s not for lack of trying. The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) formed a dedicated working group just to try to reach a number. The industry’s best guess is about a decade, maybe more, maybe less. Not exactly what you want to hear if you’re trying figure out how to replace the encryption schemes used for everything from email to the world’s banking systems.